$$ Saving Laundry Color Catchers and Up-Cycled Container

Hey just a fun thing that I did the other day to help save $$.....

We have lots of reds, oranges and bright colors and always hearing about the color catchers from friends but  I just can't see spending the extra $$ to keep my colors from bleeding and luckily they don't that much, at least I don't think so but I'm going to find out after I give these a try!

I bought some Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and cut up some white felt squares I had into 4 pieces
and so out of 3 felt white felt sheets I have 12 squares!  Awesome to see if they work well will be a test and
I'm already to do that!

I will let you know how that goes and link up to the blog I got the recipe from if it in fact does a good job later.   For now, I wanted to show you the container that I made out of a cute little wooden bucket I received several years ago from my sweet sister in law on my husbands side.  I've had it as a decoration in our utility/laundry room for at least 5 years but with no purpose; until now.  So here it was:

So it was a nice afternoon, I saw my paint from Kendall's $$ earning Chore Chart and light bulb moment; this would be perfect color for my laundry room.  I love the Ocean Blue/Turquoise color!  I'm finding I use it more and more.  So before the sun went down I untied the rope that you can hang it by and removed the twine band that was glued from the pot and painted it.

I didn't sand it or prep it other than removing the cord and ring decor.
It took about 3 to 4 coats and:

When it was dry, I put the decor back on up to the original glue mark and next got out my hot glue gun and glued it back.

All glued on, gotta love hot glue it dries so fast you can do tons of crafts in a short time frame!  I love the quickness!

I added my white felt color catchers and loved it but still needed something and another; ah ha moment!
Yes, the same vinyl letters I had used for the Chore Chart and Laundry Loot would be perfect; if I had enough and well;

I did!!!  I did have to use the lower case in order to spell correctly but my laundry room is coming along nicely!  I look forward to sharing it's transformation after I'm through but sharing the crafts I do as I move along with inspiration to up-cycle things I already have to transform them to things that I didn't use; to things that make everything about doing laundry better!

May you have a day filled with SunShine, Joy and Smiles........share your crafts with me..... and I will link the color catchers in the next few days!  God Bless you!

Valentine Inspired Car Bingo Recycled Tin Tutorial

We live in the country and well, frankly, getting down our driveway is a mini road trip.  Our rock driveway is about 1/4 mile down to the actual Highway for us to go anywhere.  We are always on the lookout to see what we can see and, honestly, we can see a lot.

We have trees, telephone poles, our donkey GusGus, a pond which is a host to a lot of wild life not limited to but often seen:  Red Tail Hawk, an array of other birds, the tanks Blue Crane, Racoons, Skunks, Armadillos, Deer and Bob Cats to name a few!

I am always searching for Kendall to do something in the car on our drives other than play on her phone.  She likes to play games or text but if she does it for too long it makes her head hurt and not feel very good.  The car bingo we've had before engages her to look outside and keep her mind searching so with that in mind I created a special one for her.

My youngest brother years ago gave me some Brighton Cross Earrings that I just love.  The neat lime green heart shaped container they came in with fun writing on it was just to cool to not do something with.  There came the Valentine Inspiration as it is February 2, 2013 and this container is in the shape of a heart!  :)    So here is what I did to make this.  Realize, you can use any size tins to make it compact with a lid, I'm thinking an Altoid Tin for the next one Christmas inspired  ;)

I will give you a complete supply list at the end of this tutorial, enjoy!

Get some scrapbook paper, open your tin and cut out section to fit for both lid and base.

Open your tin and decide how many magnets you want to use so you can still see the pretty/fun paper.

Turn your tin upside down on the backside of your paper (easier to see on white ) and trace your shape for both bottom and top.  Cut out your shapes.

Next I used Elmer's glue and glued the paper into the top and bottom of my tin.
Then I went to Google Images for Road Trip Bingo and picked the one I liked and chose the things that would keep her looking for a while.

This is the one that I used and the website link is on the bottom of this picture!  She did a great job and for us it was the most easy to recognize via picture because my tin is so little I had to import the file and shrink it down to 3 x 3 and 3 x 4.   I printed 2 copies.
1.  I cut out the bigger ones to glue to the magnets
2.  I cut the smaller ones to glue stick to the base of my tin.

Now the hard part is just letting these dry for our next outing in the car.  Kendall is 11 and she loved the bright paper and the special tin made just for her.  She can keep it in her purse for use when traveling with friends or in our car; her choice.  This was just so quick, fun and easy I felt really good making it for her with things we had just lying around!  No $$ spent that's the way to have some free fun!

Supplies:
Tin of your choice
Pack of magnets ( craft section Walmart or Hobby Lobby )
Sheet of Scrapbook or any other paper you like
Elmer's School Glue and Glue Stick
Scissors and a pen or pencil for cutting and tracing your shape
Images or Stickers of what you want your little ones to look for

May your day be filled with SunShine, Joy and Smiles............. Have fun & God Bless!  

Up cycle from an Old bottle to Laundry Loot

Today we were graced with a cold front blowing in that brought much needed rain and with it some amazing skies, I am always amazed at God's masterpiece that is breathtakingly beautiful. Just look!

Kendall and I had finished school and always trying to clean, organize ad find use for things I came across a Patron bottle that I've held onto for years because I loved the shape and knew I could find a use for it someday.

Well, today was that moment! I don't have a cricket, my husband is the production manager at a sign company and I didn't want to wait and realized I do have lots of scrap booking supplies! :)

1 old, cool bottle and some vinyl stickers 5 minutes later and now have something neat to hold the change I always find!  My husband was pleasantly surprised, it's just the little things that can make you smile.

Wishing you a very craft-like, fun day!  Just look around to see what you can find, you may surprise yourself with your own creation! Turning trash into treasure  :)